This Week: A more lighthearted take on it all

This is sort of what my job is like:

This Week: A more serious take on it all

I'm not gonna lie - this week has not been an easy one. I found out that someone I work closely with has been lying and stealing money from me. Wow. Didn't see that coming at all. You know, everyday I was like, "Well, tomorrow's a new day. It can't get any worse." Haha. Everyday more and more things unfolded and more things came to light. Surprisingly, I've been very calm through all of it - no tears, no cussing. Somedays I'm just like, Why is this happening? Why me? Why am I here and in the middle of all of this?

Then this week I was reading this devotional called "Moments with the Savior" by Ken Gire. The passage was on the Transfiguration. Do you remember this story? Jesus takes some of his followers to a mountaintop. It's a quiet place where they are going, away from the crowds, away from the conflict. Peaceful. Perfect. Maybe Jesus was thinking about what was ahead for him when he would have to descend that mountaintop. Maybe he was offering up prayers to the Father for strength and endurance. The followers fell asleep and when they awoke they saw before them a man dressed in white, the light shining from his face so bright that they can barely make out that this was the Messiah. Just then Moses and Elijah appeared, "They stood next to him as men who have also endured suffering. Also experienced the rejection of the very people they were called to lead." Surely, Jesus could have easily stepped off that mountaintop and returned to Paradise if he had wanted, but He knew what was in the valley waiting for him, that he had to fulfill the Father's greatest plan. This is the part that struck me:
"[This] is the message of the Transfiguration--the joy that awaits us at the end. And that is what the Savior needed to hear...and to see..and to feel. For it was the joy set before him on that mountaintop that gave him the strength to make the descent to endure the cross."

Last week for me and for the Kingdom was incredible. There was a team here and amazing things happened. As one team member put it, "You can’t dream up the stuff that happened this week." (More on those stories later). I believe that last week was a sort of mountaintop for me that has sustained me through this week, this cold and lonely valley-of-a-week. Why am I sharing all this with you? I want you to know what really goes on here. It's not all smiles, joy and hallelujah moments. It's really hard here sometimes, but if anything it's made totally rely on the Father and completely surrender all this crazy stuff. It also makes me think maybe we're doing something right - time and time again I've noticed that when we start reclaiming territory that the Enemy has controlled for so long, like we did last week, that he's not a big fan of that and he'll do anything to reclaim it.

I think Gire put it well in this prayer and I pray it will encourage you in whatever valley you're facing or walking in this week:
"At all times, but especially in times of suffering, help me to fix my eyes on you, Lord Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before you endured the cross. Help me to consider you who endured such opposition from disobedient people, so that I will not grow weary and lose heart when it comes my turn to carry a cross...."

New Friends and Collections

Last week I conducted a breast cancer awareness training at two hospitals with the help of 7 friends visiting from America. We met many local ladies and probably shared with over 60 women over two days. Unexpected friendships formed with our translators that week. One of the translators even invited us to her house to meet her mother and grandmother and cook us chicken biriyani and kebabs (my favorite Indian dishes!).

Here are some pics from the day we visited "A". She's loves to collect things - everything from coins to teddy bears. Here's "A" showing off her teddy bear collection. Behind her on the left is her family's "puja room" where they pray and give offerings to their gods everyday.

This is a pic of "A" and our other translator "S" who helps me with Urdu sometimes. (If you got a stitched purse or greeting card from me when I was home "S" is the one who made it. She's an amazing artist and tailor!) They are holding up an old rupee bill that is no longer in print.

Teddy bears of all sizes.

Please think of "A" and "S" this week. They heard the training and the Story many times over last week while they translated. Ask that they would have a desire to hear more stories like the ones we shared last week and that they would keep searching for the Truth.

I love the bus.

Lately

Day trip out of the city

Goofballs

Temple Wall

Idols

Friends visit

There's No Place Like Home

What I Did in America:

Met up with some old friends from SA.

Spent time with my Aunt, Uncle, Cousins and (surprise!)Grandma. They drove 8 hours to see me!

Observed my friend Holly's amazing knitting skills while waiting for a lane at the bowling alley

Ate at DQ

Met up with some amazing friends from home

Hung out with my Dad

Saw my old, old dog Nikki

Laughed it up with Mom by the fireside

....and did some shopping. Ok, maybe a lot of shopping :)
It was good to be home!

The Last Few Weeks...captions are coming

Thai Pepsi anyone?

How 'bout a boatride in Pattaya?!

Christmas in South Asia. My crafty friend "b" made us all aprons on her sewing machine. My other friend "M.E." bought us those scarves. My scarf and apron matched :)

We had REAL HAM on Christmas morning. My first time to have ham in over a year. Yum!

Check out these amazing coffee items of America! Impressive.

Typical scene from life here.

New friends I invited over for dinner. Can't tell you how much I loved my rice cooker on this day. We ate A LOT of rice.

More friends for Christmas.

...and more amazing drink items from, you guessed it, America.

Listening to stories from the "Jesse Tree" along with my friends' neighbors.